Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair for Traumatic Thoracic Aortic Injury: A Single-Center Initial Experience

Several publications have documented the technical feasibility and efficacy of stent grafting for aortic injuries. We report short- and mid-term results of thoracic endovascular repair with covered stent grafts for type B blunt thoracic aortic injury.

We performed a retrospective review of patients who had sustained blunt thoracic aortic injuries. From January 2010 to March 2014, 13 patients (12 men and 1 woman) were admitted and treated in our department for type B thoracic aortic injury. The patients' ages ranged from 19 to 62 years. Traffic accidents were responsible for 10 of the 13 blunt thoracic aortic injuries, and the remainder was caused by blunt trauma from falls. Medical records were examined to identify the clinical outcomes of the procedures, and follow-up computed tomography scans were reviewed to document the efficacy of thoracic endovascular aortic repair.

Endovascular stent grafting was technically successful in all cases, and no paraplegia or stroke-like events were reported. No major cardiac, neurologic, or peripheral vascular complications were observed during early or late follow-up. None of the patients died from procedure-related complications.

Our single-center experience demonstrates the feasibility of performing endovascular repair for type B blunt aortic injury. As experience with endovascular surgery accumulates, this method of treatment promises to become the first-choice option for repairing this type of aortic injury, with less associated morbidity and mortality relative to conventional surgical repair.